Friday's Fave Foods***Decorated Sugar Cookies

Here is the last of my cookie series. I use an easy recipe for this. Why complicate any more than is needed, and especially this time of year?

SUGAR COOKIES/ICING FOR COOKIES

1 stick butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla all together. Add egg. Beat until light and fluffy. Stir in milk. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Blend well. Divide dough in half. Chill 1 hour or more.

Roll dough on floured board to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with a floured cookie cutter.
Bake on cookie sheet, in a 375 degree oven, for 8 minutes. Cool. Store in tightly covered container.
Makes 4 dozen cookies. Frost with icing.

ICING FOR COOKIES:
3 c. sifted confectioner's sugar

1/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Dash of salt

Combine sugar, milk, vanilla and salt; mix well. Add food coloring. Frost cookies. Add candy sprinkles if desired. Will frost approximately 5 dozen cookies.

NOTES: Your sugar cookies do not have to be fancy at all to be fun (and tasty) although you can be extravagant if you want to! If I'm using lots of colors, and especially if kids are involved, I use small squirt bottles (the plastic ones that you see in delis that hold the oil and vinegar, or the mustard) and cut the tops to make a wider hole. This gives you greater control with your work and it also makes clean up so much easier! Those are available and very inexpensive, I get mine at the local restaurant supply store, which is open to the public. Also, don't forget, for intense color and better consistency, use food color paste as opposed to liquid food color. You can get that in cake decorating/candy supply hobby stores.

Enjoy your creativity!